Bartender Walter Wolford shares stories from behind Richmond airport bar

RICHMOND, Va. -- It’s the second Monday in January and Cross Grain Brewhouse is relatively quiet. Quiet enough that bartender Walter Wolford can clock in a little early and grant one eager journo a quick chat.

I’m eager because it feels like this interview has been years in the making. Not that I had this specific bartender or bar or even airport in mind, only that I’ve been aching to discuss, on the record, what it’s like to work in a space that seems to defy all social constructs.

Fireball at 9 a.m.? Why not. Bonding over sob stories with a stranger you’ll never see again? On the bingo card. Sitting elbow-to-elbow with a celebrity and their tiny Chihuahua? Highly probable.

Click here to continue reading on Style Weekly .

EAT IT, VIRGINIA restaurant news and interviews